Calder shows declines

Calder shows declines

Calder ended its 2004 summer meet on Saturday with

across-the-board declines for attendance and wagering. The Miami,

Florida, track was closed on September 3, 4 and 5 due to

Hurricane Frances, leaving the meet with only 123 live racing

days instead of the scheduled 126.

For total on-track attendance, 544,745 patrons passed through

the gates compared to 597,648 who attended the track 12 months

ago. That resulted in an average attendance of 4,429 in 2004,

which fell 5.15 percent from last year's 4,669 average.

The average on-track handle declined 2.94 percent, from

$397,359 to $385,675. On-track handle totaled $47,438,009 for the

meet while last year saw a $50,861,901 corresponding handle. Last

year's $3,362,699 average total combined handle dropped 10.27

percent to $3,017,450 at the recently concluded meet. A total

combined handle of $371,146,341 was recorded compared to the

$430,425,431 registered in 2003.

A new record was set on all-time combined mutuel handle for a

single day ($10,843,994) at Calder on the 2004 Summit of Speed,

which was held on July 10.

In the standings, Bill White earned leading trainer honors for

saddling 48 winners. Angel Salinas came in second with 37 scores,

three more than Kathleen O'Connell in third. Jockey Eddie Castro

led all riders in victories by having his picture taken 154 times

in the winner's circle. Manoel Cruz booted home 120 winners,

while Manuel Aguilar had 109 total scores for the meet.

Michael Sherman easily captured the leading owners honor with

39 winners compared to Buckram Oak Farm and Rey Wan Racing, who

had 14 each.